PESHAWAR: Shrouded in uncertainty for days, the killing of Qari Saifullah Mehsud, a dreaded militant and former leader of the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was confirmed on Tuesday. Mehsud was killed by unidentified gunmen in Khost, southern Afghanistan, in the wee hours of Sunday.
A close aide of the slain militant, who requested anonymity, said that soon after hearing about the killing, he headed straight to Khost to attend Mehsud’s funeral ceremony. “He was killed early Sunday morning at the Gulan refugee camp in the Gurbaz district of Khost province. I am told that Mehsud was killed inside his home by unidentified gunmen over a personal rivalry,” a resident of Khost city, who also declined to be named, told Arab News on Tuesday. The militant, also known as Gilaman Mehsud, had long ago parted ways with the TTP and formed his own splinter group.
Established in 2007, by late Baitullah Mehsud, the banned TTP is now divided into several factions, which operate on both sides of the porous Pakistan-Afghan border. Adnan Bhittani, a senior analyst in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told Arab News that Mehsud’s original name was Khanzallah Mehsud, but he was widely known as Qari Saifullah Mehsud and derived from the northern part of South Waziristan tribal district.
“Mehsud had basically not been that active within TTP circles, the media had projected him out of proportion because he used to claim credit for any attack in an apparent attempt to get a sway among splinter groups,” he added. For example, he claimed responsibility for the killing of Turkistan Bhittani, former head of a peace committee in southern Tank district, who died in an armed clash with his cousin, Nasrullah Bhittani, following a property dispute.
Adnan said Mehsud was among the most wanted fugitive Taliban leaders who fled to Afghanistan to dodge Pakistan’s military offensive in North and South Waziristan tribal districts. He recalled that in 2016, the Taliban commander was captured by joint US and Afghan security forces, but was released after 14 months. Afghan media sources also reported Mehsud’s death at the Gulan camp but stated that the slain militant was a tribal elder known as Hafizullah. Citing Khost police spokesman Adel Shah Haidar, the media confirmed the incident, saying the killing was triggered by personal enmity.
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